Michelangelo's "The Creation of Adam" from the Sistine Chapel ceiling. (Wikipedia)

(Newser)
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Creationists beliefs are on the wane but a full 40% of Americans still believe that God created humans in their current form 10,000 years ago, according to the latest Gallup poll. But the proportion of people with creationists beliefs was the lowest since Gallup started asking the question in 1982. The poll also found that some 38% believe that God guided the evolution of humans over millions of years "from less advanced life forms," while 16% believe that humanity evolved without divine intervention.

Believers in creationism tend to be less educated than others, the poll found, and were more likely to be both church-goers and Republicans. Some 52% of Republicans held the strict creationist view, compared to 34% of Democrats. "The significantly higher percentage of Republicans who choose a creationist view of human origins reflects in part the strong relationship between religion and politics in contemporary America," Gallup notes.

The explanation of these poll results are easily understood..... Science with all that mathy stuff is HARD to learn and understand.... Literal belief in an ancient book is so much simpler.... Simple being the key word...

Intergalactic62

Dec 20, 2010 10:13 PM CST

It is possible to believe in a sort of God or force beyond science or human explanation and still remain a rational successful human being. Only when people take their bible's text too literally is it that problems occur. Islam and Christianity are guilty of ignorance in the face of other points of view. The Great Schism and the evolution of Islam are both instances of people declaring their own take on the faith and it's role in society. This is where a lot of the negative effects that people associate with religion derive from, not the actual text. Calling a believer of a religion a dumb-ass is ignorant as anything you could do. A majority of atheists act so arrogant that it sort of defeats the cause of conveying your ideas to others. I know religious folk do the same thing but it's no excuse. (I myself have no affiliation to any religion but consider myself more of a humanist who has a deep admiration for all religions and ways of addressing the causality of life and the universe).

Emmanuel_Goldstein

Dec 20, 2010 8:53 PM CST

So it follows then that 40% of Americans prefer having their heads firmly inserted in their sphincter? I always knew that a great percentage of Americans were thoroughly insipid but this exceeds my wildest fantasies. It's so much fun watching your empire implode.